The present invention relates to product display strips, for the display of packaged and/or individual products with a special, attention-attracting presentation, in conjunction with more convention shelf displays and the like. The invention is directed in particular to specific improvements in such product display strips, to make them more useful and at the same time more economical to manufacture.
Stores of all kinds frequently seek to enhance sales by highlighting new or special products, or products being offered at a special price, for example. Among the many techniques utilized for this purpose are hanging displays, in the form of strips or rods, which can be suspended in the aisle space, in front of the conventional display shelving. One of widely used devices for this purpose is a vertically suspended rod mounting a plurality of package-engaging spring clips. Such devices, while useful for the intended display purposes, are unnecessarily costly because of the cost of the individual clips and the expense of mounting and positioning the clips on the supporting rods. Moreover, the clips frequently are of limited effectiveness for gripping weighty packages, and merchandisers in many cases simply hang heavy packages over the upwardly extending arms of the clips, which are intended to be gripped by the user for opening and closing the clips.
Pursuant to the present invention, an improved display strip is provided which is formed of a relatively stiff, elongated metal strip provided with a plurality of upwardly and outwardly projecting tongues for supporting product packages for display. The product supporting tongues are formed integrally with the metal of the strip, and alternate ones of the tongues project in opposite directions with respect to the principal plane of the strip. The strip is arranged to be suspended from other display facilities of a store, such as racks provided in large chain hardware stores, for example, of from display gondolas commonly used in supermarkets and drug stores. By suspending the strip to have its principal plane perpendicular to the racks, gondolas, etc., from which the strip is suspended, the opposite sides of the strip face up and down the shopping aisles defined in part by the racks, gondolas, etc.
Display arrangements for displaying packages in both directions, up and down shopping aisles, are known in the art, for example Conway et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,259, Gebka U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,003 and Forrester U.S. Des. Pat. No. 190,608, but these arrangements are in essence dual strips placed back to back, which tend to be more complicated and less satisfactory than the arrangement of the invention.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, product supporting tongues are integrally stamped from the body of the display strip, to extend upward and outward at a suitable angle from the plane of the strip, desirably about 35.degree., alternately in opposite directions. The upper end extremities of the tongues are bent upwardly, to a more vertical orientation, which helps to prevent accidental dislodgment of displayed packages.
For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof and to the accompanying drawings.